In about 4 hours, the documentary Unnatural Causes shows us a profound investigation concerning the health inequalities and disparities in American Society and the impact caused by these issues on people’s behavior. According to the investigations, problems such as class division and racial discrimination not only have consequences in society itself but also can produce changes in the behavior and welfare of the American population; changes that undoubtedly have negatives repercussions among the neediest. Apart from problems of class and race, the documentary explores issues of immigration and neighborhood environments that are also the cause of many health problems in the communities of the United States. Always backed by facts and statistics, the variety of academics and health experts give their opinion on all the topics covered in the documentary.

At the same time, the experts accuse courageously the great companies, people of the highest social class and even the American government itself to ignore the serious problems that are affecting thousands of people. Through the documentary Unnatural Causes and especially its seventh episode “not just a paycheck” we will see in detail the pain, suffering, and illnesses that large corporations can cause by suddenly change the lives of their employees regardless of the years of hard work they have dedicated.

The episode number seven of Unnatural Causes called “not just a paycheck” shows how the company Swedish Electrolux, one of the largest factories of refrigerators in America, leaves the United States in order to find cheaper labor. More importantly, it shows the negative repercussions that the abandonment of the factory had between those former workers who dedicated more than twenty years to this corporation. The most common effects among former workers were depression, stress, and even anxiety. Apart from the stressful situations, some of the workers think that alcohol and gluttony were vices that they suffered because of the financial impact. Moreover, the episode explains through health experts the relationship between unemployment and health problems that may even cause death in those who cannot find solutions quickly. According to the investigations, Americans with resources and the power to control their lives have bigger chances to live a healthy long life.

On the contrary, those without autonomy and control have an important increase in the possibilities of suffering health diseases and mental illnesses. Near the end, the episode maintains its theory on the relation between health problems and the unemployment and makes an important criticism of the U.S economic system. In a comparison between America and Sweden, the episode shows how Swedish industries care for their employees. The Swedish economic system rewards entrepreneurs and also protects workers from any harmful or illegal situation. For this reason, the average Swedish lives even three years longer than average Americans. Overall, the stories that are told in this episode and all the information it gives invite us to think about the thousands of Americans who suffer because of the mistreatment of large companies towards their employees. Nevertheless, it seems hard to believe that things will change soon because social responsibility does not seem to be an issue that concerns today’s politicians. To improve the American economic system, people who have dedicated their lives to work must be treated with great respect and not like resources that can be thrown away.

To conclude, episode seven of the documentary Unnatural Causes gives us contrasted information that somehow shows us the serious issues of the American society and gives us a new perspective regarding the fact that the longed-for American dream that aroused the interest of many people around the world is increasingly far from reality.